In 2018, East Coast Softball began hosting events with approximately 38 teams.
Today, the series of camps and showcases that headline the Summer and Fall seasons draw more than 200 teams from across the country, allowing thousands of young softball players the opportunity to showcase their talents in front of college coaches.
East Coast Softball CEO & Founder Rachel Coleman says that the genesis of her company fit the classic business model of “find a market need and fill it.”
“We started these high-quality events to fill a gap in the Northeast,” she explains. “While many mega softball events are hosted on the West Coast and down South, there is a significant gap in our region—one of the most populated areas in the country.”
It certainly doesn’t hurt that there’s a lot to do for players and families when not playing between the lines at the East Coast events.
“We are centrally located near many of the finest universities in the country and are within driving distance to four of the largest cities in the U.S.,” Coleman continues. “The Northeast is becoming one of the country’s softballs mega centers!”
Families travelling to the East Coast Softball event aren’t lacking for things to do—be it enjoying the home-state New Jersey beaches, taking in the bright lights and casino life of Atlantic City (for the adults only, of course!) or being within driving distance of Philadelphia, the nation’s birthplace; Washington D.C., the country’s capital and New York City, one of the world’s metro meccas.
“Teams have also enjoyed visiting the Statue of Liberty and spending an evening in New York City while attending our events,” the long-time coach and businesswoman adds.
As Extra Inning Softball wrote last year at this time, Coleman runs a Multi-Platform Softball Business in which she has not only proven successful in producing fastpitch events, but also has been closely aligned with club organizations, including the Stars National which she now owns, so she knows what the softball market wants from both the coach and player perspectives.
A former DI pitcher at Rider University until a shoulder injury cut short her career, Coleman also served as a Volunteer Assistant Coach at Kennesaw State University under Softball Hall of Fame Coach Scott Whitlock and would go on to the University of Tennessee to get a Master’s in Sports Management.
With her extensive experience in all areas of fastpitch, Coleman nonetheless is gracious in giving credit to her event staff for running the events and servicing both the athletes and their perspective college coaches.
“It takes a village and countless hours of hard work to make this happen,” she believes. “The staff works 12 months a year and consistently go above and beyond to deliver the best experience possible for these rising athletes. Our team takes great pride in the role of ‘host,’ from staffing each complex with a site coordinator to finding the best field crew to maintaining the fields between each and every game.”
“We also partner with South Jersey’s top landscaping company, The J Boys, to level our fields and ensure they are in top form for our events. We lead by example showing that with a little hard work, anything is possible!”
One area that the former college athlete stresses is making sure that the attending young players get one-on-one experience with college coaches at the East Coast Softball’s all-skills camps.
“This enables players to improve their skill levels, while getting to know the coaches and benefiting from college-level training,” Coleman explains. “We also ensure athletes who attend our clinics get all the tips and secrets to college recruiting as we partner with our sister organization SoftballRecruiting.com to host sessions on the recruiting process during our camps.”
As a side note, it should be mentioned that the SoftballRecruiting.com website, which is an extension of Coleman’s efforts to assist young athletes in the recruiting process, has helped connect recruits with college coaches to the tune of over $15 million in scholarship money.
“I take my role in the softball community seriously and am committed to making a difference and empowering young women across the nation to reach for the stars,” the successful events manager says while demontrating that her experiences as a player, coach and entrepreneur help her be a strong example to all young female athletes.
Paying it forward and supporting the community are important to Coleman.
Under her East Coast Softball flagship, she and her workers host free camps and clinics for local Little Leagues – regardless of age or skill set, because, as she states:
“The game has plenty to teach! And this year, we are excited to announce East Coast Softball will be offering a scholarship to one of our high school players to ‘Empower Female Athletes’ in their pursuit to success!”
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Below is the list of this year’s key events and, for those with questions or looking to get more info, you can email: [email protected] or click on this link to go to the website: East Coast Softball Tournaments.
EAST COAST SOFTBALL TOURNAMENTS UPCOMING 2022 EVENTS:
Summer Showcase
June 11-12, 2022, Pennsville, NJ
Summer Showcase Camp
College Coaches Instructional Camp
June 13, 2022, Pennsville NJ
August Camp
College Coaches Instructional Camp (ages 13-18)
August 6, 2022
Fall Showcase
October 22-23, 2022 Pennsville, NJ
Fall Showcase Camp
Date & other details coming soon